Collapsible supporting frames



Feb. 9, 1960 1-. L. TESDAL COLLAPSIBLE SUPPORTING FRAMES Filed. Jan. 1a,1956 INVEN TOR. THOMAS L TESDAL United States Patent COLLAPSIBLESUPPORTING FRAMES Thomas L. Tesdal, Eugene, Oreg.

Application January 18, 1956, Serial No. 559,912

1 Claim. (Cl. 248-165) This invention relates to improvements incollapsible racks and more particularly to a rack primarily designed foruse by game hunters in suspending game such as deer, elk, and the likefor the dressing operation, which must be done as soon after the kill aspossible in order to preserve the meat.

It is one of the principal objects of the invention to so construct arack of this type that it will be strong and durable, yet light inweight and compact for carrying purposes and of a character that willpermit of its being readily and easily assembled for use and when soassembled can be adjusted to different heights and positions.

The foregoing and other objects will appear as my invention is morefully hereinafter described in the following specification, illustratedin the accompanying drawing, and finally pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a rack made in accordance withmy invention and in position for use.

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a typicaltelescopic supporting leg.

Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view, partly in section, of a four-piececross-bar.

Figure 4 is an enlarged top plan view of a typical fitting forconnecting the ends of the cross-bar to the supporting legs.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a top plan view of a portable base for the legs of the rack.

Figure 7 is a front view of Figure 6.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings:

In Figure 1 reference numeral 1 indicates generally a horizontalcross-bar comprising a plurality of interconnected hollow tubularsections 2, 3, 4 and 5 all of equal length and threadedly interconnectedas indicated at 6 and 7 in Figure 3. The outer end of each section 2 and5 is flattened and apertured as at '8 and 9, respectively. By means ofsaid apertures the end sections 2 and 5 are removably secured by meansof wing nuts 10 to the threaded end of bolts 11 embedded within andextending upwardly from a cylindrical block 12 of metal such as babbittor the like secured within a cup member 13. The cup member comprises aflat circular bottom wall and an annular vertical wall as shown inFigures 4 and 5. The top surface of the circular block 12 lies flushwith the rim of the cup as shown in Figure 5. By this arrangement eachflattened end 8 of the cross bar 1 will bear securely flatwise againstthe top surface of the block 12 and against the rim of its respectivecup member 13 upon advancement of the wing nuts 10 on the threaded endof the bolts 11. Three arcuate clamping elements 14, 15 and 16 aresecured by spot-welding or the like to the outer peripheral surface ofthe cup member and their 2,924,414 Patented Feb. 9, 1960 ice flangedends 17 are provided with bolts and wing nuts' Each telescopic leg ofthe two supporting tripods 20 for the cross-bar 1, as best illustratedin Figure 2, comprises a hollow base section 21 equal in length to thatof each of the sections 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the cross-bar, a hollow centralsection 22 and a hollow top section 23 all telescopically interconnectedas shown. The top end of each top section 23 is flattened and aperturedas at 24 for lockable engagement with the flanges 17 of the clampingelements 14-15 and 16 by means of the bolts 18 and wing nuts 19.

For quickly and conveniently locking the leg sections in extended orretracted positions with respect to each other I provide the centralsection 22 with longitudinally aligned apertures 25 to selectivelyreceive a spring-urged detent '26 carried by the base section 21. Asimilar detent 27 is carried by the central section for selectiveengagement with apertures 23 provided in the top section 23. By thisarrangement the leg sections may be locked in a fully extended position,a fully retracted or collapsed position or in any adjusted positiontherebetween to accommodate the tripods to ground irregularities orsloping terrain.

The bottom end of each bottom section 21 is provided with an insert 29pointed at its outer end as at 30 for firm engagement with the ground toprevent slippage when in use. The inserts also provide means for firmlypositioning each tripod upon a portable base as shown in Figures 6 and 7which comprises a triangular platform 31 supported by caster wheels 32and provided with recesses 33 at each of its corners to receive thepointed ends of the inserts as shown in Figure 7.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have provided acollapsible rack which can be quickly and conveniently assembled andextended from a fully collapsed compact form to any desired length andheight within its operative range and which when set up for use willstand firmly upon the ground in a fixed position or upon a portable basein a similar manner.

While I have shown a particular form of embodiment of my invention 1 amaware that many minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves toothers skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention. Having thus described my invention what I claim as newand desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A collapsible rack comprising a pair of spaced apart identical tripodsinterconnected at their top ends by a cross bar, each tripod comprisinga metallic cup having a flat circular bottom wall and an annularvertical wall, a circular block of metal secured within the cup memberand fully occupying the interior thereof whereby the top of said blockwill lie flush with the top rim of said annular vertical wall, a bolthaving a head at one of its ends and threaded at its opposite end, saidbolt secured within said circular block with its threaded end extendingupwardly therefrom, said cross bar having a flattened portion at eachend thereof and each flattened portion having an opening therethroughfor engagement with the threaded end of its respective belt, a nutthreadedly attached to each bolt whereby upon advancement of itsrespective nut on the threads thereof said flattened ends of said crossbar will bear securely flatwise against the top surface of said circularblock and the top rim of said annular wall, clamping elementspermanently secured to and surrounding each of said cups and havingcooperating outwardly flanged ends, legs having openings in their topends, bolts extending through said openings in q t V .3 the legs andthrough said outwardly flanged ends of the clamping elements to therebylock said legs either in parallel or in downwardly diverging relation toeach other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS631,602 Wood et a1. Aug. 22, 1899

